


Escape the Night: Full Moon Slaughter

by Dede42



Series: Escape the Night Season 2 [11]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Challenges, Full Moon, Gem - Freeform, Victoria Era, Victorian Mansion, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/pseuds/Dede42
Summary: It's midnight and the Sorceress has changed the rules so that her lieutenants will be coming after the YouTubers. Can they outwit the latest threat without losing anyone else, or will someone else die?
Series: Escape the Night Season 2 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1481360
Comments: 20
Kudos: 4





	1. PROLOGUE: A FOOLISH FATHER

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Sorry for the late update, but I had to finish up my Christmas shopping and wrapping the Christmas presents. I'm pleased to say that I'm all ready for Christmas.
> 
> Anyway, time to start the next episode. Onward!

**PROLOGUE: A FOOLISH FATHER**

*****

It was nighttime in the forest near the estate and a cowboy named Atticus was making his way through a misty clearing with his gun drawn.

He paused when a wolf howled somewhere in the distance. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anything in the light of the full moon, and he resumed waking as quickly and as quietly as possible in order not to draw attention to himself.

Atticus was about to do something _really_ risky, but he was certain that this would help him and his son have a better life.

*****

Atticus soon found an Indian camp with no one in sight. On a tree stump in the middle of the camp was a yellow gem that seemed to glow in the light of the full moon, and he knew that this was what he’d been searching for.

_‘It’s more beautiful then I thought it would be,’_ he thought, approaching the tree stump and the yellow gem.

Going down on one knee and putting his gun away, he reached into the pocket of his coat, and pulled out a dark yellow stone that was roughly the same size and shape.

Looking around, he quickly switched them out, and he was looking at the gem, which seemed to glow for a moment, when he heard the wolf howl again, and it was closer, plus there were more howls answering it.

He quickly pocketed the gem, got up and ran.

*****

Atticus reached his campsite, where his son, Dylan, was asleep, and he shook him awake after he threw water on the campfire, putting it out. “Pack it up!” he ordered once his son was conscious. “We got to go.”

“Who did you rob now?” Dylan asked groggily, sitting up while his dad was quickly packing up their gear, and he was wishing that his father would stop stealing from others.

_‘Why can’t my father just_ stop _stealing from others?’_ he wondered for what felt like the hundredth time. _‘Why can’t we just go back to the farm?’_

“Move!” Atticus snapped, not having time to explain.

_‘Why does he_ always _do this?’_ Dylan wondered, getting up and began stuffing his stuff into his bag. He knew that his father hadn’t been like this before his mother had passed away from an illness, and he wished that things would go back to the way they had been before her death. “Dad, I don’t want to-” he began.

“Quiet!” Atticus hissed, loading his rifle and stood up, looking around for the source of the snarling that was getting closer with every second that passed, and he knew that meant that the creatures had managed to follow him from the Indian campsite despite his best efforts to not leave a trail.

He moved around the camp and fired the rifle, scaring his son while making sure that the creatures didn’t get closer. “Go, son!” he shouted. “Run!”

Although he didn’t want to leave his father, Dylan ran forward, but he didn’t get very far when he collided with something tall and furry.

He grunted as he was shoved to the ground and he stared up in horror at the creature towering over him.

It was tall with brown fur, built like a man, and it had both very sharp claws and _very_ sharp teeth.

“Oh God!” he moaned, staring up at the werewolf as it snarled. “Dad!”

“Dylan!” Atticus screamed, and then they were both attacked by the werewolves that burst out of the trees on both sides of them!

Because of Atticus’ greed, they _both_ were going to pay the price for stealing the gem. And the price they would pay would be _very_ heavy indeed.


	2. CHAPTER ONE: MIDNIGHT TROUBLE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Happy New Year!
> 
> It's now 2020, and I'm posting late since I was up late seeing the movie Knives Out with my dad, and it was worth staying up late for. Time to see what the survivors will go up against when the clock strikes midnight. Onward!

**CHAPTER ONE: MIDNIGHT TROUBLE**

*****

In the lounge of the mansion, the survivors were worried, because it was getting really, _really_ close to midnight, and they still had to find three gems. They knew that something was going to change at midnight, but they didn’t know what that could mean, or what sort of change the Sorceress was going to throw at them.

“Oh God,” Tyler moaned, his face was white with fear. “Something is about to go _down._ ”

“We need to be ready for whatever’s about to happen,” said Andrea, trying to remain calm, but she wasn’t sure.

Ernie went to the mantle and picked up the sword that he’d gotten from the Greeks. “Well, we have _one_ weapon,” he remarked. “So, that might give us an edge.”

“Maybe,” said Dawn, but she wasn’t looking too sure of their odds, and even Joey was worried since they didn’t have much time until midnight. “Hopefully.”

“How much time do we have?” Joey wondered, feeling scared.

“We have less then five minutes and three more gems,” said Alex, still aching from Gabbie’s death, but he wasn’t about to let any of his remaining friends die if he could help it. “If each gem equals a life, _one_ of us can live. But we can't do it in that amount of time,” he added, not liking their odds of finding the remaining gems before midnight.

“No, we do not have enough time for that,” Andrea agreed, especially since she and Dawn were the last girls standing, and for all they knew was that the Sorceress would show up and make them fight each other in some kind of event straight out of the _Hunger Games_.

Just then, a clock started chiming, and their hearts dropped when they realized that it was chiming twelve times. Time was _up!_

“Everyone,” Alison said, and she was now sounding uneasy, “it’s midnight now.” And the Sorceress’ laughter started ringing throughout the room once again, making those sitting, jump to their feet as they all looked around fearfully.

“Just be prepared for anything,” Joey advised while keeping Dawn close.

Just then, a box near the couch that Tyler had been sitting on, opened with a flash of purple light, scaring them, and as they gathered around, Tyler peered inside and pulled out note.

“Wait,” he said, opening the note. “There’s a note.” And he started reading it. “‘It's midnight in the garden of evil, and it's time we escalated the stakes. My lieutenants are no longer waiting to be found. They're coming for you. The Sorceress’.”

“I _really_ don’t like the sound of that,” Dawn said uneasily.

“Me either,” Joey agreed.

Andrea was also uneasy by this plot twist. “So, do we hide?” she suggested.

“Ok,” Tyler agreed, putting the note back in the box.

Of course, _that_ was when someone started pounding on one of the doors that led outside, scaring the group, and most of them scurried away from the door, except for Alex, where a man was pounding on the doors with a scared and frantic expression on his face.

_`“Help me!”`_ the man cried, banging on the glass. _`“Help me! Please!”`_

Alex started moving toward the door and his friends all immediately protested.

“Don’t listen to him!”

“Don’t open the door!”

“Alex, don’t do it!”

Alex knew that they were probably right, but he didn’t feel right in at least trying to help this man, who really didn’t look like one of the Sorceress’ lieutenants. “I think he needs our help,” he insisted and unlocked the door, letting the man inside.

“Alex!” Joey and Dawn both yelped and bolted to the other side of the couch when the man hurried into the lounge. “Omigosh!”

“You _have_ to help me," the stranger pleaded with a desperate expression on his face, and he was wearing a brown jacket, a cowboy hat, and a pair of worn-out boots. "Please! My son's gonna die if I don't do something!”

“Your son?” Alex asked and this got the attention of the others, too.

The man nodded and shared his story the best he could. “We were attacked by a werewolf on the side of the road."

"A _werewolf?"_ Andrea exclaimed.

"A werewolf?” Alex repeated.

_‘First vampires and now werewolves, why not?’_ Ernie thought sourly.

Alison faced the man, wondering what he did to have the werewolves that she knew lived in the forest come after him and his son like that. “Wait, wait, wait, why?”

The man swallowed before he answered her question. “I took something from him,” he confessed. “A gem. The size of my fist. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

This immediately got the attention of the group. “Can we see it?” Andrea asked, hoping that it was one of the remaining gems that they needed.

The man took the yellow gem out of his pocket and showed it to the group, who were certain that it was the next gem they needed for the gem map. “If you help me," he told them, "I'll give it to you."

"We'll help you," Tyler said with a nod.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "We'll help you. We'll help you. What do you need? Where is he?”

“Tell us where your son is, and we’ll do what we can to help,” Dawn promised. “Now, what’s wrong with your son?”

The man, pocketing the gem, was grateful that the group was going to help his son, and so he told them what he knew. “The lycanthrope infection hasn't settled into my son's blood yet,” he explained. “The only way to purge it is with a mixture of quicksilver and wolfsbane.I hear tell that there's a map hidden out by the fountain. Please. We don't have much time.”

“We will help you,” Tyler promised.

Alison went behind the bar and retrieved lanterns for the group, and they each took a lantern before following the man outside, who was desperate to get his son the help he needed in order to save his life. And while they weren’t absolutely sure, but they were almost certain that they could hear the Sorceress laughing at them once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's midnight and they're facing werewolves? Man, what a way to start a new year right?
> 
> Anyway, I will see you all next week with the next chapter. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	3. CHAPTER TWO: KEYS AND WEREWOLVES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yes, I have been busy with the ETNuary that myself and other AO3 authors have been involved with, and I will admit that I surprised myself and them by joining in.
> 
> Anyway, time to see what is going on with our favorite YouTubers and whether they can avoid the werewolves. Onward!

**CHAPTER TWO: KEYS AND WEREWOLVES**

*****

The group followed the man across the lawn toward the fountain, and the group wasn’t too excited to go near it, especially since in a different realm, they had gone up against the harpies that’d killed Liza right in front of them, and it hadn’t been a fun experience.

“We don't have much time,” the man reminded them, and his breathing was a bit ragged, whether it was because of fear for his son, or something else, the group really couldn’t tell. “My son is gonna _die_ if I don't find this.”

“I don’t know if we can trust him,” Alex said quietly, now having second thoughts about helping the man, “but he needs our help.”

Andrea stopped the group short of the fountain. “Wait a minute,” she said to them, keeping her voice low. “How do we know we should trust him? He could be one of the Sorceress’ lieutenants.”

“And that note _did_ say that the lieutenants would be coming after us,” Tyler added. “And for him to show up _so soon_ after we found that note…it’s sketchy.”

“Then again, he could have a son that needs our help,” Dawn pointed out. “I’m not entirely sure if we can really trust this guy, but given that I have two nephews, I would want someone to help me if this was happening to one of them.”

The man, however, realized that they weren’t following him, and he called out them desperately. “Cone on!” he pleaded. “Please! I just heard stories…that the map was hidden by the fountain…” And he started coughing, causing him to double-over, and the group now weren’t _really_ sure if they could trust him or not.

“Why is he coughing?” Ernie wondered, still suspicious of the man and wishing he’d brought the sword with him.

“I hear there is a map to the stagecoach that leads to the wolfsbane," the man added, gasping between coughs.

Still not sure if they could trust this man, the group began searching around the fountain, which wasn’t easy since it was foggy, and it was making it difficult to see, even with the lanterns.

“Look in the trees,” Alex suggested. “Look in the flowerpots. A map. We're looking for a map.”

The group searched for the map, with Andrea complaining about how she couldn’t see anything in the fog, and then Tyler found something under a bush.

“Oh!” He grabbed the object and yanked it out, revealing that it was a chest. “Wait! You guys!”

“Did you find it?” Andrea asked eagerly.

Joey helped Tyler carry it over to the side of the fountain, and they were joined by their friends as they examined it. They all groaned when they saw that it was locked with three locks.

“Great, we need to find _more_ keys,” Dawn grumbled. “What is it with these bad guys and their freaking locks that need either keys _or_ combinations?”

“I’ve been wondering that since last year,” said Joey and they resumed searching the area, now looking for the keys by searching _everywhere,_ including the fountain, where Andrea almost fell inside.

They also searched the trees, where Joey and Alex helped lift up Dawn and Andrea to check, but there was nothing in the trees, and so they kept searching the area.

“Maybe we should dig for them?” Joey suggested and he began digging through a large flower pot when there was a wolf howl in the distance, which made them all stopped and look around uneasily. “Oh God.”

“What was that?” Andrea asked uneasily.

Dawn swallowed. “I – I think it was a wolf.”

“My son doesn’t have long,” the man reminded them, and while he wasn’t coughing anymore, he wasn’t looking well either.

They kept looking and both Dawn and Joey tried breaking some of the pots to see if they could find the keys, but they weren’t having any much luck, and it was when Andrea remarked that they were probably looking too hard for something right in front of them, that Joey and Dawn both happen to gaze into the fountain.

“Guys, we’re _so_ stupid,” said Joey, reaching into the water and fished out a small key. “There’s _literally_ a key right here.” He and Dawn then hurried over to the chest, joined by Alex, Ernie, Tyler, and Andrea, and he used the key to open one of the locks. “Ok, we got one lock off.”

“Ok, one key down and two more to go,” said Ernie, feeling a little bit more hopeful.

They began searching for the two remaining keys, and Tyler found a small key in a pot that hadn’t been searched yet. “Here’s the second key!” And he went to work on unlocking the second lock while the others searched for the remaining key. “Got it,” he said, removing the second lock. _‘Why make the keys_ so _small?!’_

Andrea soon found the third small key in another pot, and she hurried over to the chest, the others joining her as she used the key to remove the third lock. She opened the chest and pulled out a piece of folded parchment. She unfolded the map and she found a note on it, which she read.

“‘Follow this map to the location of the stagecoach, where you will find the wolfsbane’.”

They were about to check where to go on the map, when there was a savage roar behind them. Screaming, they jumped and turned to see _right_ behind them was a werewolf with black fur, sharp claws, and sharp teeth.

“Go!” Alex shouted and they all ran, leaving behind one of the lanterns, with the werewolf giving chase.

*****

It took a bit, but they managed to lose the werewolf and they were now following the map to where the wolfsbane was suppose to be.

“That was a werewolf!” Joey yelped as they kept running, not wanting to run the risk of running into any other werewolves, since there was probably more then one, knowing their luck.

“Because it's midnight, you guys,” Andrea reminded them.

Tyler noticed something just ahead and got their attention by pointing at it. “You guys! A carriage!”

And sure enough, just ahead of them, there was a stagecoach, and while both Joey and Alex were hopeful that they could use the stagecoach to get out of there, it was obvious by the lack of horses, that the stagecoach wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Reaching the stagecoach, Andrea opened the door and climbed inside, where she found a chest and hauled it out, handing it to Dawn, and she carried it to the side of the path with some help from Alex, and they both set it down.

“ _Please_ tell me that it isn’t locked,” Ernie requested, not really wanting to search for _another_ key.

Alex checked the chest and saw that it was locked. “Another key.”

“Are you _freakin’_ kidding me?” Joey groaned, not really wanting to search for _another_ key so soon.

“There’s a note,” said Dawn and she read it to them. “‘Only the horses can see the key’.”

“What horses?” Alex wondered, and they went to check the front of the stagecoach, where the horses was suppose to be.

“Are they invisible?” Joey wondered, waving his hand over where one of the horses should’ve been. “Hello? Horsey?”

Alex, however, figured that the note meant something else. “Oh. In their _position,_ ” he realized. “What position would they be in? They'd be pulling…they would see…” And while his friends searched the area where the horses would be, he set down his lantern and climbed into the driver’s seat, and he pretended to be the driver, but there was still no key.

“Hurry up,” the man begged, “my son doesn’t have long.”

As Alex climbed back down, he saw a pair of binders hanging on the side of the stagecoach, and he remembered something important. “Horses have blinders,” he recalled. “They can only see forward."

"Is _that_ anything?" Andrea asked. "I don't know if that's something.”

Alex grabbed the binders and checked them, finding the key inside. “Found it!” he exclaimed. “There's a key. They can only see it cause they're the only ones that wear these.”

“Of course,” Dawn realized and felt like kicking herself. “Obvious spot.”

Alex went to the chest with his friends, and he used the key to remove the lock. Opening the chest, he first pulled out a jar with a turquoise substance that they figured was the wolfsbane, and a note. Handing the jar to Andrea, he read the note. “‘We stashed a safe in the trees along this road to hold the quicksilver we took from the Southern Bank’.”

“Ok,” Joey said, nodding to the path ahead. “I say we just go forward.”

Agreeing, they went forward along the path, looking for anything that could be holding the quicksilver, and it wasn’t long before Joey found a wooden safe hiding under a bush, and both he and Dawn pulled it out onto the path. “Oh! Right here!”

“Another key?” Alex guessed testily.

“Hold on,” said Joey, not looking forward to having to find something to open the safe, and read the note that was on it. “‘I've never seen anything like quicksilver before. To keep my men from stealing it, I split the combination into three parts. I hid one here, another in the greenhouse under the moon, and the last one is on the stone path, where you need to keep an eye out for traps’.”

Ernie sighed. “Great, sounds like we’re gonna have to split up in order to find the combination pieces.”

Alex nodded, seeing as it was their only option. “Ok, Andrea, Ernie,” he said, “let’s go to the greenhouse. Come on.”

“Wait a minute!” the man exclaimed, and they all looked at him. “There's a werewolf about. You need to stay hidden if the werewolf comes around, cause if he grabs you, he'll drag you to the back patio for later eating.”

“We won’t let ourselves get captured,” Dawn assured him, and she was hoping that they could avoid being caught by a werewolf, having already been grabbed by a vampire at the start of this entire mess, and also by Greeks earlier, too. “Let’s go.”

And the group split up with Joey, Dawn, and Tyler heading for the path to find one piece, and Alex, Ernie, and Andrea went to go find the greenhouse and the other piece while Alison remained with the man and the chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Splitting up isn't a good idea, especially when there are werewolves lurking around. I will see you all next week, and also stay tune for the next ETNuary chapter. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	4. CHAPTER THREE: HIDE AND SEEK WITH WEREWOLVES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Sorry for the late update, but I had a busy morning and my mom talked me into taking her to see Little Women. I have the book, but I hadn't read it, and I just might now that I've seen the movie.
> 
> Anyway, time to see how the group of survivors will deal with the werewolves. Onward!

**CHAPTER THREE: HIDE AND SEEK WITH WEREWOLVES**

*****

Tyler, Joey, and Dawn headed up the stone path, keeping an eye out for the traps mentioned in the note, and they were also keeping an eye out for werewolves, too. They hadn’t gotten very far when Tyler suddenly faced his two friends, startling them.

“More people have to die for us to get those gems," he said in a shaky voice. "I don't want it to be us." He then stuck out his pinky. "Promise?”

Dawn and Joey both hesitated for a second, but then they linked their pinkies with Tyler’s in agreement, forming an alliance before they resumed the search, and both Joey and Dawn hoped that this wouldn’t back-fire on them like last year, which had resulted in Justine being buried alive.

*****

Meanwhile, Andrea, Ernie, and Alex were making their way to the greenhouse, and when they entered it, they started searching for the combination piece.

“Do you think it's under one of these pots?” Andrea wondered, nodding to the pots that were stored under the table in the center of the greenhouse.

“Worth a shot,” Ernie agreed and they duck under the table, picking up the pots and checking underneath them.

*****

Back on the path, Tyler, Joey, and Dawn were still on the look out for both traps and the werewolf, when Joey noticed a rope tied to a tree a short distance away.

“Hold on,” he said, moving toward the rope and both Tyler and Dawn followed. “Is this a trap? There's a trap! There's a trap! It's right there!” He grabbed the rope and started to pull. "It's a-” he began and choked with disgust when the other end of the rope dropped out of the tree, revealing that there was a skinned rabbit corpse attached to it.

“Oh God,” Dawn moaned, a hand over her mouth, and she was looking greenish. “What do these people have against bunnies?”

“Don't you think that's gonna attract a werewolf?” Tyler pointed out while Joey finished lowering the dead rabbit to the ground.

Joey shrugged and took Dawn from where she couldn’t see the rabbit corpse to keep moving. “I don’t like the bunny,” he stated, looking for more traps. “Maybe we're supposed to count how many traps there are. So there's one…”

Tyler, however, crouched next to the dead rabbit and picked it up, getting protests from Joey and Dawn.

“Don’t touch it!”

“Tyler, that’s gross!”

Tyler ignored them and, against his own better judgement, he reached into the carcass, fighting back the impulse to throw up, and he found a small scroll inside. Prying it out, he set the dead rabbit aside and straightened up as he opened it to read what was written on it. “‘Butch always liked to-’”

Suddenly, there was the roar of a werewolf, scaring them as they looked around frantically when they heard something smashing through the bushes, heading toward them.

“Someone’s coming,” Joey hissed and herded both Tyler and Dawn toward a coup of trees to hide. “Hide. Hide.”

No sooner had they hidden themselves among the trees, then a brown-furred werewolf came out of the bushes on the opposite side of the path, giving them a good view of his appearance. It was tall with the same sharp teeth and claws, and it sniffed around the area while quietly growling.

*****

Over in the greenhouse, Andrea was wondering how Joey, Dawn, and Tyler were doing since the forest was definitely territory for the werewolves, and she suspected that they were probably more at risk of being found by a werewolf, then the three of them.

Suddenly there was a growl outside the greenhouse and Ernie quietly cursed when he saw the shadow of a werewolf heading for the door. “Dammit! It’s a werewolf! Hide!” _‘Now I really_ wish _I had brought my sword with me!’_

They scurried under the table, pushing aside pots, and they laid themselves as flat as they could, doing their best to make absolutely _no sound_ as the werewolf entered the building and leapt on top of the table so that it was directly above them. It snarled, baring its fangs, and then it started banging its massive paws on the table, clearly hoping to force them out of hiding.

Eventually, the werewolf gave up, jumped back onto the floor, and it exited the greenhouse. Once they were certain that it was gone, Alex, Ernie, and Andrea came out of hiding and they resumed their search, desperate to find the combination piece before the werewolf returned for round two of life-or-death hide-and-seek.

*****

Meanwhile in the forest, Joey and Dawn carefully tugged on Tyler’s coat, pulling him with them to hide deeper among the trees to avoid being found by the werewolf. “Come back this way. Hide.”

They watched as the werewolf sniffed around the area, growling softly when it found the dead rabbit, and snatched it up before disappearing back into the bushes, moving away from the trio.

“Ok,” Dawn whispered. “He’s gone.” And they came out of hiding. “That was _way_ too close for comfort.”

Joey knew that she was right, and they were definitely needing to work faster to find the combination piece before the werewolf came back for another deadly round of hide-and-seek. He looked at the scroll that Tyler had found moments ago. “What does it say?”

Tyler opened the scroll again and read the contents. “‘Butch always liked to keep a certain number of bullets on him. He thought it made him lucky’.”

Wondering how bullets could help, they resumed moving down the stone path, and they soon found another rope tied around a tree. They made sure that there was no werewolves around before Tyler undid the rope, and lowered what turned out to be a sack instead of a dead animal this time.

Joey and Dawn removed the sack from the rope and opened, finding that it was filled with supplies. “This is someone’s stash.”

“Whose?” Tyler wondered, joining them. “That guy?”

Joey shrugged as he rummaged through the sack with Dawn’s help. “There’s bread.” And he pulled out a loaf of bread, and Dawn found more food items. “What the heck…this is someone's _food!_ This is their stash!”

“Someone hid it in the tree to keep it from being by animals,” Dawn guessed. “Still, there’s _definitely_ something sketchy about that guy. This could be his stash. Who else could it be?” And both Joey and Tyler shrugged, not sure themselves.

*****

Back in the greenhouse, the search for the combination piece continued, and Alex shared similar thoughts of distrust for the man they were trying to help.

“I don't know if I trust this guy,” he admitted. “How do we know if his son is really sick?”

“And how do we even know that he has a son?” Ernie added, once again wishing that he’d brought the sword with him to use against the werewolves.

Just then, Andrea noticed something above the table. “Wait,” she said, pointing at a spotlight that was currently turned off. “That’s the moon.”

Alex saw that it was attached to a rope that was tide to one side the greenhouse. “I’m gonna pull it,” he told his friends as they went to the ropeand he grabbed it. “I think it's gonna release something, but you both look out for the werewolves." He then gave the rope a good yank, and it fell off the spotlight, leaving him with a handful of rope and nothing else. "Oh, that's not supposed to happen.”

“Agreed,” said Ernie.

Alex dropped the rope, set down the lantern, and he hopped onto the table so that he could inspect the spotlight. “I gotta get up there.”

“I’m scared,” Andrea admitted. “Alex, how are you going to get down if a werewolf comes?”

Alex shrugged as he examined the spotlight, finding a latch that the rope had been attached to. “Hold on. Here we go.” He pulled on the latch and the spotlight popped open so fast that he nearly got hit by the cover and a multitude of wooden balls that came tumbling out of the spotlight. “Whoa!”

He jumped down and they searched among the balls that were all over the floor, even the ones that were still on the table, and they soon found a piece a wood among them. Andrea grabbed it and saw that the number twenty-seven was on it.

“Ok, let’s get out of here.”

*****

Meanwhile in the forest, Tyler kept watch while Joey and Dawn kept searching through the stash for the combination piece that they needed, and soon Joey pulled out a leather belt that had bullets connected to it.

“Joey, those are silver bullets,” Dawn said, staring at the gun belt.

“So, those must be the bullets that Butch considered lucky,” Tyler guessed.

Joey began counting the bullets and did it twice to be sure that he had it right. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…eleven.”

“How many?” Tyler asked, itching to get out of there. “Ten or eleven?”

“Eleven, ok?” Joey insisted. “I miscounted. I’m worried.”

“We’re all worried,” Dawn agreed. “So, that means eleven must be the combination number that we need.”

Joey nodded and held onto the gun belt. “I’m bringing this back just in case.”

“Good idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The group has every right to be suspicious of the cowboy.
> 
> I will see you all next Wednesday. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: WOLFSBANE AND QUICKSILVER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> The numbers have been found and it's time to get the quicksilver. Onward!

**CHAPTER FOUR: WOLFSBANE AND QUICKSILVER**

*****

The two teams both returned to the safe, the man, and Alison at the same time, and Joey confronted the man.

“Are these your bullets?” he demanded, holding up the gun belt, and the man shook his head. “What’s your name?”

“Atticus,” Atticus answered.

Alex took the gun belt, interested in the bullets. “Are these silver bullets?”

“They are,” Dawn confirmed, and she was starting to wonder if they were wrong about Atticus since he clearly didn’t recognized the bullets, and since his name wasn’t Butch, then that meant that the gun belt had belonged to someone else altogether.

Andrea knelt in front of the box with the piece of wood. “Ok,” she said, and they focused on the box and the two locks. “We have a plaque that says twenty-seven.”

“We have eleven,” Joey said, “and we have that.” He pointed to the box, which had scratches on the lid, and knelt next to Andrea to work on the locks. “Which is thirteen. Maybe we subtract them all from twenty-seven.”

“Well, we need three numbers on each combination,” Alex pointed out.

Andrea and Joey both nodded as they tried putting in the numbers as they were into the locks, but nothing happened. So, they tried other ways to put the combination in, and so far they weren’t having any luck, not even when they added and subtracted the numbers together.

Tyler, who’d been watching mostly, suddenly had a brainstorm. “What if it's all three numbers in a row, and then split down the middle?” he suggested and both Joey and Andrea tried that with the numbers, unlocking both locks. “Thank God.”

“Guys, we have to hurry,” Alex reminded them.

Knowing that he was right, Joey and Andrea opened the chest, and inside was a glass container with a silver liquid inside it. It was the quicksilver.

“We need to get to my son, please,” Atticus said urgently as Joey took the container out of the chest. “Follow me to my son.Once you fix my son, I'll give the gem to you.”

The group followed him, hoping that he would keep his promise, and no one else would need to die.

*****

Following Atticus into the forest, the group keep their eyes wide open and their ears sharp since there were still two werewolves lurking around, and they didn’t want to end up becoming dog food anytime soon. It wasn’t long before they found a boy in his early teens, and he was lying against a tree, cradling his left arm, which had a nasty-looking gash in it.

“Omigod,” said Tyler, hating himself for not believing Atticus about his son.

“Now I feel bad that we didn’t believe him,” Joey said softly and the others agreed as they gathered around.

Atticus was focused on his son, who was looking pale and sweaty. “We got the ingredients, son,” he told Dylan. “You’re gonna get better.”

“It said I'd change," Dylan said in a weak voice. "That I'd be healed.”

Atticus shook his head while Dawn knelt next to his son, feeling his forehead and found that it was burning with a fever. “No. You're too young,” he protested, not wanting his son to turn into a werewolf. “The transformation will tear you apart. It _has_ to be this way!”

Dawn looked at her friends. “We better hurry,” she informed them. “He’s burning up with a bad fever.”

“Ok,” Joey said, holding both containers. “What do we do?”

“Give him the ingredients,” Alex suggested, nodding to Atticus.

Joey turned to Atticus and tried to hand him both containers, but the moment that the wolfsbane got close to the man, he recoiled as if he was being shocked. “What’s wrong?” he asked, now becoming suspicious of the man again.

Atticus ignored the question and handed Tyler a small bowl. “You mix the ingredients in here and smear it on his wound,” he instructed, standing up and keeping his distance from the wolfsbane. “I'm gonna go get some water.” And he disappeared into the trees.

“Why won’t he touch it?” Joey wondered. “He’s not even touching it.”

Dawn could only think of one reason of why Atticus wouldn’t touch the wolfsbane, but she couldn’t be sure since there was a lot of conflicting information about werewolves, and they had to focus on curing Dylan first. “Guys, let’s worry about that later and help the kid first.”

Joey knew that she was right. “Ok, guys, let’s make the cure.” And they all jumped when they heard a werewolf howl in the distance, but it wouldn’t stay away for long, knowing their luck.

Alex took the container of wolfsbane, opened it, and dumped it into the bowl. “Now the quicksilver.”

Andrea took the glass jar with the quicksilver and, after struggling with the lid a little, opened it, and poured the silver liquid into the bowl. “There.”

Joey took the bowl and held it while Alex mixed the wolfsbane and the quicksilver together into a paste. He then took the bowl and knelt down next to Dylan, and Dawn gave him a cloth that she’d found.

Alex used it to scoop up some of the mixture and he began smearing it on the gash, making Dylan cry out. “The werewolves are going to find us!” he hissed and was glad when Dawn convinced the boy to bite down on a thick stick she’d found, and it muffled his cries. “There,” he said once he had the wound completely covered with the mixture.

“We did it,” Joey said, relieved to see that the boy was already starting to look better.

Dylan sat up and while he was grateful that these people had helped him, he knew that they were still in danger, and that they didn’t know what was wrong with his father. “You folks should probably run,” he advised.

“Why?” Ernie asked.

“I don't think my father shared his new condition with you,” Dylan added.

“Oh God,” Dawn said, realization dawning on her. “Your father got bitten by one of the werewolves, didn’t he?” And when the boy nodded, she felt like kicking herself for being right. “Werewolves can’t touch wolfsbane without being harmed!”

Realizing that they needed to get out of there, and hoping that Dylan would be okay on his own, they hurried back toward the path. They didn’t get very far when Atticus, now a blonde werewolf, appeared with the gem clutched in one paw, blocking their way, and when they tried to go the other way, the other two werewolves appeared, effectively blocking them in.

They were trapped!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agh! Trapped by werewolves! Tune in next week to see who will survive and who will become food for the werewolves at the same ETN time and the same ETN channel! Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	6. CHAPTER FIVE: RACE TO SURVIVE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Dylan has been healed, but the group is now surrounded by werewolves! Can they escape with the gem and their lives? Or will one of them become werewolf food? Onward!

**CHAPTER FIVE: RACE TO SURVIVE**

*****

Alison was standing in front of the terrified group, facing the werewolves, and she knew that if she didn’t do something, they all would be torn to shreds.

“Atticus,” she said, fixing the former man with a stern look, “we saved your son. You owe us a debt, and we're calling it in.” She hoped that would work, but when Atticus merely growled and tightened his grip on the gem, she knew that there was only one other option and her friends weren’t going to like it. _‘And they_ are _my friends,’_ she thought. _‘After all this, they really_ are _my friends.’_ “A life for a gem. We'll vote.”

This got a reaction out of Atticus, but it wasn’t the one that any of them were expecting. “There will be no vote,” he snarled, surprising them.

“No vote?” Joey and Dawn both repeated, surprised since there has _always_ been a vote, except when Artie and Ernie went to go up against Medusa, and when they and Andrea had volunteered to go up against the snow witch. “What do you mean, no vote?”

“All of you will run the gauntlet that lies between here and the fountain," Atticus growled. "The last straggler _will_ be devoured.”

“You _betrayed_ us!” Dawn snapped angrily. “We saved your son, and this is a _betrayal!_ ”

Alison surprised them by snatching the gem out of Atticus’ hand. “We’ll be taking this _now_ ,” she snapped, daring him to take it back, “as promised then.”

Atticus looked at the group with hungry eyes, and there was no remorse whatsoever for what was about to happen to the group. “At my howl,” he said, “the gauntlet will begin.”

The group exchanged uneasy looks, and they were all feeling dread since this was going to be their deadliest challenge yet. Just then, Atticus howled loudly, scaring them.

“Let’s go!” Joey shouted and they all ran for the first obstacle, which was a net of barbed wire that they were going to have to crawl under.

Dropping the lanterns, they all started crawling under the barbed wire, feeling like the soldiers that had to do this while training, and poor Tyler was struggling since his red coat was getting caught on the barbed wire.

Alex managed to get to the other side, followed by Andrea, Ernie, Joey, Dawn, and then Tyler. They all ran for the second obstacle, which was a slated wall that they were going to have to climb up and slid down the other side. Alex was the first to make it over with Ernie not far behind, and Andrea, Joey, and Dawn were getting close to the top while Tyler was struggling once again because of his darn coat.

The werewolves were following from behind, and they were eager to pounce on whoever was going to lose the race, which was _really_ starting to look like Tyler.

*****

Alex ran as fast as he could, hearing Ernie not far behind, and he could also hear the noises coming from Andrea’s outfit. He tuned them out, focused on reaching the next checkpoint, where he found six heavy bags.

Grabbing one of them, he started up the nearby flight of stairs while lifting it over his shoulder. _‘I’m_ not _going to die today,’_ he thought, determined to survive, but he also knew that one of his friends was going to die, and he wouldn’t be able to save them from three werewolves, even though he really wanted to.

Ernie and Andrea both grabbed their bags and were racing up the stairs as Joey and Dawn both reached the remaining bags, grabbing one each with Tyler puffing after them.

“Oh, this is heavy!” Joey exclaimed as they ran up the stairs, too.

*****

Reaching the top of the stairs, Alex dropped the bag and ran to a box full of rocks. Grabbing a handful, he turned to where six glass bottles had been set up as targets, and he began throwing the rocks at one of the bottles as Ernie and Andrea arrived. After trying three times, he managed to break one of the bottles and took off as his remaining friends arrived and started throwing rocks at the remaining bottles.

While their friend took off, they focused on breaking the remaining bottles, Ernie broke a bottle and took off, and there was some surprise when Tyler threw a rock that smashed the bottle that Joey had been aiming at, and it was his first throw.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Joey protested while Tyler ran after Alex and Ernie.

“Just keeping throwing the rocks, Joey!” Dawn shouted, figuring that he was upset that Tyler was breaking the alliance they’d barely made ten minutes ago.

*****

Alex was running around a corner when he saw Alison waiting behind a red tape, and he broke through it, being the first one safe. He sighed with relief and turned to see who would come around the corner next, fearing for whoever would end up being last.

Moments later, Ernie came running around the corner and didn’t stop until he reached Alex, who he high-five, and Alison. Now it was down to their remaining friends.

*****

Back at the break-the-bottle game, both Joey and Dawn managed to break their bottles and they took off while Andrea kept throwing rocks at the remaining bottle until she _finally_ broke it and chased after her friends, but deep in her heart, she knew that she was going to be last. She also could hear the werewolves following her, too.

*****

Tyler rounded the corner and sprinted over to where Alison, Alex, and Ernie were waiting. The moment he crossed the finish line, he high-five Alex and Ernie, and he turned just as Joey and Dawn both ran around the corner, and his heart dropped, realizing that Andrea was going to be the last one to cross the line.

_‘Oh God,’_ he thought as both Joey and Dawn made it across the line, also giving high-fives to Alex and Ernie. _‘Andrea’s going to be werewolf food!’_ And it wasn’t long before Andrea also came around the corner, reaching them just as the werewolves appeared with hungry looks in their eyes.

“I’m sorry, you guys,” Andrea said regretfully when she reached them.

“No,” Joey said, not wanting to lose _anymore_ friends. “You’re fine.”

“Get behind us,” said Alex, and he pulled her behind them.

“If those werewolves think they’re gonna get you, they’re wrong,” Dawn said firmly and Ernie, nodded, refusing to let Andrea die, and so what if it mean bringing the wrath of the Sorceress down on their heads again.

They were _done_ playing by her rules.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh crap! It looks like Andrea may very well become werewolf food!
> 
> I'll see you all next week! Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	7. CHAPTER SIX: ALISON’S SACRIFICE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Things are not looking too good for the survivors and it looks like Andrea will be werewolf food since she lost the final death challenge. Onward!

**CHAPTER SIX: ALISON’S SACRIFICE**

*****

Atticus and the two werewolves advanced toward the group, their hungry eyes were fixed on Andrea, but Alison got between them and their prey.

“We had a _deal!_ ” the vampire girl hissed angrily.

“No deal,” Atticus growled.

Alison hissed again, keeping herself between the werewolves and her friends. She surprised them when she turned to her friends, shoving the gem into Joey’s hand and a letter into Dawn’s hand. “Joey, Dawn, take the gem, and get out of here.”

“Alison…” Joey gasped and the others were shocked, too, realizing what the vampire girl was about to do for them…for Andrea.

“Alison, don’t,” Dawn protested. “Don’t do this for us.”

Alison smiled at them sadly. “Run,” she said simply and turned to face the werewolves. “Go! Run! And don’t look back!”

“Come on,” said Joey, realizing that this was their only chance that Alison was giving them, and they all ran for the nearest flight of stairs.

The moment that they were gone, Alison hissed again as the werewolves attacked, and she fought them as hard as she could until one of them managed to grab her from behind, and slammed her onto the ground, winding her. _‘Goodbye my friends,’_ she thought as the werewolves began tearing her apart. _‘Goodbye-’ And the next thing she knew, she was staring down at her own torn-up body._

_‘How can I be here and not in hell?’ Alison wondered and started when she heard a voice behind her._

_“You died a hero, that’s why you’re in the World Between Worlds,” said a male voice and she turned to see Shane Dawson, and there was a white light not that far from their current location. “You’ve redeemed yourself by helping my friends.”_

_“Who are you?” Alison questioned, still feeling confused by all of this. “And by friends, do you mean Joey and Dawn?”_

_Shane nodded. “Yes,” he confirmed. “My name is Shane Dawson and last year, I tried to fight an evil that was in a house locked in the 1920s, but I was poisoned by the evil, and I died, leaving them and others with the mission to seal away the evil.” His expression turned sad. “I never wanted them to go through that kind of hell, or have them go through it a second time.”_

_“And they’re going through it now because I couldn’t get them to leave the mansion,” Alison pointed out. “Dawn wouldn’t leave without Joey, even though I_ really _tried to convinced her.”_

_Shane chuckled. “Dawn is a stubborn independent girl all right,” he remarked. “Which is why she’s a Light-bearer, just like other members of her own family that came before her.”_

_“But she doesn’t know how to summon the Light,” Alison said, frowning. “She knows almost_ nothing _about it. Why?”_

_Shane sighed. “That’s a question that I can’t answer, but if you come with me, there are those who can answer that and any other questions you may have,” he confessed and held out his hand. “Come, the others are waiting.”_

_Alison glanced back at her dead body, took Shane’s hand, and they walked into the white light together._

*****

The group ran down the stairs, hearing all the shouts, scuffles, punches, growls, and the screams that were brutally cut off. Alison was dead, and she’d given her life to save Andrea. Alison, who’d been there to help them from the start, having tried to get them to leave, had turned against her own father, and now had given her life to save theirs. Their friend was dead and they were now on their own.

*****

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the group went through a doorway and found themselves in the red hallway from when they had tried to repair the Automaton Bride, which had cost Gabbie her heart, and they walked down it, heading for the elevator at the other end.

“Are they coming?” Joey asked as they slowed down to catch their breathes.

“No,” said Alex, glancing behind them. “I don’t see anyone.”

“That was insane,” Joey said, staring at the gem in his hands. “We have a gem, at least.” And that was the only good thing to come out of this, that and Andrea was alive, too.

“And this letter,” Dawn added, clutching the letter like a lifeline, and for all she knew, it _could_ be a lifeline that they would be able to use to find the next gem.

Andrea was confused since she’d fully expected to be torn apart by the werewolves, and the fact that Alison had just given up her own life to save hers was shocking and confusing. “What just happened?”

“You’re alive, _that’s_ what happen,” Ernie stated.

“But did we cheat the system?” Andrea wondered, recalling how their last attempt to do so had cost the lives of Sampson and Liza. “Does that mean we went around the rules?”

Before any of her friends could answer that question, the door to the elevator suddenly slid open to reveal a hideous pink/white creature, which stepped out of the elevator and roared at them.

Any thoughts about Alison’s sacrifice was instantly wiped from the minds of the group as they screamed and ran back the way they came with the creature roaring as it ran after them.

They didn’t know what it was, and if it was another of the Sorceress’ lieutenants, then they needed to get away from it as fast as possible.

To Be Continued…

*****

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP, Alison. You were a hero and a good friend to the very end. And man is that next monster scary!
> 
> I will see you all next week for the start of the next episode. Bye for now! R&R everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, Atticus has screwed up big time and poor Dylan is paying the price.
> 
> I will see you all on Wednesday at the start of the new year. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


End file.
